Landscape Industry

Greg Herring, the principal of the Herring Group, is the first to admit he has always hated mowing yards. However, he and the rest of the Herring Group have a real appreciation for the beauty and value that the landscape industry creates, and a deep affinity for the roles these companies play in their communities.

For landscape business owners, the Herring Group believes that higher net profit margins lead to greater life margin. What is margin? Simply put, margin is the excess. So net profit margin is the excess of revenue over expenses and is expressed as a percentage. Life margin is the excess of time and energy available for discretionary things.

For many landscape business owners, the business takes everything they have in terms of time and energy. These owners have zero life margin. They run from one fire to another – doing their best to put them out quickly. There is no spare time; there is no spare energy. The company owns them. Because their profit margin is low or unpredictable, they cannot hire employees or consultants to help them change that reality – the profits are too small and the uncertainty around whether the people will perform is too great.

All of our work is designed to change that reality of too little margin.

To make sure the changes stick, we serves businesses as a combination consultant, coach and contractor – meaning we actually do some of the work. That combination of roles along with Greg's perspective as a CFO sets us apart.

The Herring Group Path to 12%

As the owner of a landscape business, we assert that you need a plan to get to 12% net profit margin (and settle for 10%) in your business so that you can have margin in your life.

We then helps you build a path to that 12%.

Know Your Score: The Benchmark Report for the Landscape Industry

As a business owner in a competitive industry, you need to know what is possible for your company.

The Benchmark Report for the Landscape Industry allows you to see the possibility.

This annual report is unique in the industry. It is simple to participate. There are no complicated forms to fill out. Just upload copies of your annual data to a secure file system. The data is then carefully formatted and anonymized into a report that compares your company to other leading companies.

Sign up to be the first to get details about our next Benchmark Report for the Landscape industry or read more here.

Select Herring Group Landscape Clients

Working with The Herring Group has brought tranquility and peace of mind to my business. Greg has provided a sense of calm and direction to my team, as well as a better understanding of processes and procedures.

I also appreciate his factual approach to doing business, as it has helped me focus in an impartial way. His deep understanding of how operations are connected to the business side brings a unique perspective to what he does. He relates to the challenges between operational and business processes, and is able to leave emotion out of the equation.

Ivan Giraldo

President, CleanScapes

Working with The Herring Group has allowed me to identify clearly my next steps as a business owner. Greg removed the emotion from situations and helped us focus on the facts.

Beyond his experience in business and finance, Greg’s operational background makes a huge difference to his approach. Offering an interdisciplinary process in areas such as family politics, finance and human resources, he brings a unique perspective to everything he does. Greg’s ability to provide clarity, take operations to the next level and offer quick responses to concerns has provided a clear path to profitable growth for our business.

Jessica Milligan

Vice-President at Strathmore Integrated Grounds Management

When I needed to bring a CFO perspective into my business, I decided to work with The Herring Group. Greg has since helped me identify priorities, stay focused, and simplify my business operations. In addition to being extremely organized and reliable, he makes me feel more comfortable making decisions as I discuss issues with him, which is important.

Hank Wilson

President, SunScape Landscaping

My first impressions of the Herring Group came through the Landscape Industry Benchmark Report. I was impressed at how thorough and well-organized the follow-up webinars were, and how I could put the data that was shared into action.

I’ve continued to use them because they’re effective and practical. I really like how Greg is in the trenches with us, doing the hard work to help me transform the processes in my company. His perspective, especially the insight he brings from outside the landscape industry, has been a huge plus, and so has his specific, on-point data analysis. He’s helped me build systems and reports that get my messages and my priorities out to my team.

On the whole, working with the Herring Group has brought me far more value than I expected, and Greg is the best consultant I’ve ever hired.